Prepared Remarks of Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales
at the U.S. Business Leadership Network National Conference

Minneapolis, MinnesotaOctober 5, 2006

Thank you, Kevin, Good Morning ladies and gentlemen.

I am pleased to be here with the U.S. Business Leadership Network. I'd like to
start by thanking you for your efforts to increase access for people with
disabilities to goods, products, services, and employment opportunities. Your
work is invaluable to members of the disability community, who are eager to
take their place as consumers and economically productive and self-sufficient
citizens.

I also wish to thank Katherine McCary, for her work as president of the
organization. She has been a leader in bringing together businesses of all
sizes to advance these efforts, not as a matter of charity, but because it
simply makes good business sense.

We live in the greatest country on the face of the planet. America is great
because of our diversity—diversity of culture, race and religion. We are a
great country because not only do we tolerate our differences, we celebrate our
diversity. America is also unique because of the opportunities offered to every
citizen, no matter the circumstances of birth or the challenges of life. I
believe that we at the Department of Justice have a responsibility to create an
environment where it is possible to achieve the American dream if you have the
courage and imagination to persue it.

Under the leadership of President Bush, we at the Department of Justice are
working to change negative attitudes about people with disabilities based on
old and outdated stereotypes. We, like you, aim to establish conditions in
this country in which the hopes and dreams of these individuals can be
realized.

As members and leaders of the business community, you have a unique role to play
here. Your presence at this conference demonstrates to me a strong interest, if
not an outright commitment, to maximizing the inclusion of individuals with all
types of disabilities. You appreciate the business case for tapping into the
disability market and bringing on board qualified men and women whose abilities
and perspectives will help your businesses succeed.

Make no mistake about the amazing individual and collective ability that you
have to spread this philosophy to others in the private sector. Undoubtedly,
both by what you say and what you do, you are raising the bar of excellence,
and you are setting a worthy example for so many others to follow.

I also wish briefly to acknowledge leaders of the disability community who are
here with us today. Your presence illustrates your ongoing commitment to work
in close partnership with private business, to come up with innovative
solutions, and to help tear down the barriers that still remain.

Finally, if there are any young people who are with us today who attended
yesterday's Disability Mentoring Day event, which I understand was a great
success, I congratulate you. For your fortitude, for your commitment to
excellence, and for your dedication to obtaining the kind of internship and
employment experience that will help you to contribute to the economic lives of
your communities.

I want to talk to you today about what we're doing at the Department of Justice
to create opportunities for people with disabilities. But first I'd like to
take a minute to tell you about who we're protecting, and why we work so hard
on this cause. I'd like to tell you the story of ten year-old Justin Tokioka,
who everybody calls Pono.

Pono was a star player for his community baseball team in Lihue, Hawaii, despite
being profoundly deaf. For five years Pono had excelled at second base, with
the assistance of a sign-language interpreter in the dugout.

But when he traveled to the state All-star tournament last summer, Pono was told
that tournament rules prohibited the team from having an interpreter in the
dugout. The failure of league officials to make reasonable modifications to
those rules meant that a ten year-old boy who just wanted to play baseball was
told he would not be allowed.

After the Department of Justice got involved, the league agreed to alter its
rules to allow players the use of sign language interpreters during games, and
to make other accommodations for disabled athletes. Pono had the opportunity
to participate—just like his teammates—in the All-star tournament this summer,
and he played well.

I can tell you, from my own experience playing baseball when I was young, that
even something that might seem so small can make a tremendous difference in a
young boy's life.

In August we reached a settlement with PONY Baseball Inc., a youth baseball and
softball organization with 3500 leagues throughout the U.S. Under this
agreement, thousands of other young athletes with disabilities will get the
same opportunities as Pono.
As many of you know, on a beautiful summer day in 1990, President George H. W.
Bush welcomed people with disabilities to the White House lawn and signed the
Americans With Disabilities Act. Since that time, the Department of Justice
has been at the forefront of implementing this revolutionary law, which is now
in its seventeenth year.

Upon taking office, President George W. Bush noted how much our country had
accomplished since it resolved in the ADA to eliminate barriers preventing
people with disabilities from fully participating in all aspects of American
life. The ADA has made employment, public accommodations, housing, schools,
and polling places dramatically more accessible.

The President also observed, however, that significant challenges remained. In
2001 he announced the New Freedom Initiative, a comprehensive plan of action to
ensure that people with disabilities face no further obstacles to full
participation in our free market economy and society.

As President Bush said at the time, "Wherever a door is closed to anyone because
of a disability, we must work to open it. Wherever any job, or home, or means
of transportation is unfairly denied because of a disability, we must work to
change it. Wherever any barrier stands between you and the full rights and
dignity of citizenship, we must work to remove it, in the name of simple
decency and simple justice."

Today the Justice Department is issuing a report, Access for All, which
celebrates the ADA achievements of this Administration over the past five years
and looks forward to future accomplishments.

Since the start of the New Freedom Initiative, the Department of Justice has
achieved results for people with disabilities in over 2,000 ADA actions
including lawsuits, settlement agreements, and successful mediations. We have
accomplished this through an aggressive program of enforcement and public
education. In Fiscal Year 2006 alone, we resolved nearly 300 such actions.

Each of these actions represents a victory for individuals like Pono, but each
also represents the fall of another barrier for Americans with disabilities.

In Detroit, Michigan, Willie Cochran needed dialysis three times a week, and he
depended on the city's bus system for a ride home after treatment. The five
mile trip would often take two, three, or even four hours. Bus after bus would
pass him by until one would finally arrive with a working hydraulic lift that
could handle his wheelchair. He was once stranded in midair for two hours when
a lift broke as it was raising him on board.

Caroline Reed, who has spina bifida, lost her job because she could rarely find
a bus with a working wheelchair lift to get her to work on time. She had to
cut back even routine events such as socializing and going to the store, for
fear that she would be left with no way to get home.
And Elbert Davis was unable to pursue further education and job opportunities
because of the state of Detroit's bus system.

The Department of Justice stepped in and was able to reach a settlement with the
City of Detroit that ensured the availability of accessible buses. That's real
progress not just for these three individuals, but for thousands of others in
Detroit who benefit from improved transportation.
And that's just one example in one city. During the past year we have obtained
injunctive relief and compensatory damages in cases across the country, and set
major ADA precedents in a number of important areas. Our victories have come
in matters involving hospitals, gas stations, movie theaters, restaurants and
universities. But much more needs to be done.
Beyond law enforcement, a Department of Justice program called ADA Business
Connection is bringing together local business and disability leaders, helping
them facilitate access of people with disabilities to products and services,
which in turn expands business markets.
We have held 17 ADA Business Connection Leadership meetings in cities across
the country with more than 600 participants from small and mid-sized
businesses, large corporations, and organizations of people with disabilities.

These meetings have generated some valuable discussions and innovations.
Following one meeting in Houston, Texas, three of the participants decided to
collaborate and draw on their areas of expertise. The three -- a business
technology consulting firm, a large technology corporation, and a disability
assistance organization -- set up a design competition to encourage Houston
businesses to create accessible websites.

And after another meeting, one participant, who is an executive at a large hotel
chain, developed a policy for all of the company's television ads to carry
closed captioning. She also recommended to her employer that they include a
representative of the disability community on the corporation's diversity
advisory board. And she recommended to a university's new hotel management
school that they include coursework on serving patrons with disabilities.

The main goal of the ADA Business Connection initiative was to help local
businesses collaborate with people with disabilities. But at our meetings we
began hearing a lot of talk about the difficulty businesses face with employee
turnover, and how that affects their ability to maintain a staff that's
well-trained on ADA issues.

The Department of Justice took these comments to heart. We created a short
course for our ADA website, where employees can learn how to comply with the
law and welcome a whole new group of customers.

We believe that people with disabilities are an underserved market for customers
as well as a vast pool of potential employees, and that compliance with the ADA
makes good business sense.
As you know, there are more than 50 million Americans with disabilities who are
potential customers for businesses across the United States. These
50-million-plus people visit museums, restaurants, stores, and theaters with
others -- their families and friends -- all of whom purchase additional goods
and services, exponentially increasing the potential market.

It's not surprising to see restaurants, auto makers, neighborhood stores, and
performing arts centers tailoring products and services to meet the needs of
this audience.
The ADA is also bringing about significant changes in our home towns and
communities. Thanks to the ADA, people with disabilities are participating in
unprecedented numbers in civic life and are gaining equal access to the
benefits and services that local government provides.
The Department of Justice's Project Civic Access, or PCA, is one of the
President's top priorities under the New Freedom Initiative. This program is a
wide-ranging effort to ensure that towns and cities comply with the ADA.

All across America, communities are taking steps to make their programs and
services accessible. Town halls and courthouses are installing ramps and
providing accessible parking and restrooms. The use of sign language
interpreters and assistive listening devices is increasing at public meetings
and in court proceedings. Our public safety officials are saving lives by
making 911 systems directly accessible to those who use TTYs. Communities are
reshaping recreation and social service programs to allow full access by people
with disabilities.

On September 20th we reached a milestone with PCA—our 150th agreement. This
agreement involves Kanawha County, West Virginia, which includes West
Virginia's capital, Charleston. Twenty-two percent of the county's population
are people with disabilities. Under the agreement, the county will, among
other things, modify parking facilities and building entrances, and will ensure
that polling places are accessible.

Today we have 151 agreements with 142 communities, making lives better for more
than three million Americans with disabilities in those communities since 2001.
In Davenport, Iowa, for example, PCA will make a real difference for John
Sparks, who became disabled as a result of a motorcycle accident. Mr. Sparks
has a daughter who loves to dance and sing, and her mother takes her to classes
at Davenport's Junior Theater.

Under a PCA settlement agreement, the city arranged to make several
modifications to the theater, including widening the main entrance to make it
accessible, fixing the exterior ramp, and adding wheelchair seating in the
auditorium. As a result of our agreement, Mr. Sparks will be able to take his
daughter to classes and enjoy her performances.

In Fiscal Year 2007, we will conduct PCA reviews in eleven additional
jurisdictions around the country.

In addition, to build upon this success and broaden the impact of Project Civic
Access, I have directed the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice
to compile a PCA Best Practices Toolkit. The purpose of this toolkit is to
help state and local governments to conduct their own evaluations of their
facilities and programs, and to take the necessary steps to achieve ADA
compliance.

Through a comprehensive program of law enforcement and technical assistance, we
have helped provide people with disabilities greater access to health care,
public facilities, education, employment, and other settings in communities
across America. Every day, through our website ADA.gov and our toll-free ADA
Information Line, we help thousands of businesses and governments comply with
the ADA.

We at the Department of Justice are proud of these accomplishments, but we are
not done. Every single one of us in this room has a role to play. The
President is committed to this work, as is his Administration, through the New
Freedom Initiative. This is demonstrated through the various endeavors
currently under way throughout the federal sector.

In fact, Ollie Cantos, whom you know from his previous work in the Civil Rights
Division, is with me today, representing the White House as Associate Director
for Domestic Policy.

We stand ready to work in collaboration with all of you to advance equality and
access for the millions of people with disabilities we serve. The protection
and preservation of the civil rights of all Americans are among our highest
priorities. I am proud to lead in the work of the Department of Justice, and I
am honored to be with you here today and I am honored to stand with you,
fighting shoulder to shoulder for the rights of the disabled.

Thank you. May God bless you and your families. May he guide all of your
decisions and may he continue to bless the United States of America.